


In The Light Of

by Littlecamo8



Series: Little Stories [1]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Foster Care, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 09:17:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17363276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Littlecamo8/pseuds/Littlecamo8
Summary: Hiccup doesn't like the girl his mom decided to take in. Didn't like her at all.





	In The Light Of

Hiccup frowned, hood over his head, hands stubbornly in his pockets, ear buds shouting nonsense in his head. Why did he have to be here? He never even met this girl before. But his mom was her godmother, and his family would be taking care of her for a while.

He didn't even know the girl and he hated her. He was losing his game room because she needed a room. His game room! His stuff was being moved to the basement. The cold, echoing, dark basement with a single pathetic light dangling from a thick wire.

His green eyes sparkled at the sight of his beloved mother. Her soft face beaming at him and his dad, her eyes sparkling with love.

When she finally made her way over, Hiccup hugged her. "Hiccup!"

"Hi, mom," he chuckled, lowering the volume in his ear buds. "Hope you didn't miss me too bad."

She pulled away, laughing at his joke, and rested a tender hand on his cheek. He leaned into the warmth, smiling.

Stoick then picked her up, pulling her into a loving kiss. They pulled away seconds later, and his mom gestured to the girl Hiccup's age.

"Stoick, Hiccup, this is Emmie, my goddaughter. Emmie, this is my husband Stoick and son Hiccup."

"Hi," her little voice squeaked, but no one heard it over the background noise.

"Nice to meet you, lass!" Stoick bellowed, reaching over to pull her into a hug, but Emmie did something Hiccup had never seen before.

She jerked her arms over her head, whimpering and curling her shoulders inward, bending her back to make herself smaller.

Stoick paused with a frown, glancing at his wife's solemn expression. "Val," he started.

"Emmie's parents are unable to take care of her until the courts settle things," she vaguely explained. "Emmie, relax, no one is going to hurt you."

Once Emmie calmed down- and after receiving many odd stares- they made their way to the car. His parents got the front seat while he and Emmie got the back.

"That's my spot," came the frail voice.

Hiccup didn't understand what she said over his music. He took a bud out and asked, "Huh?" from his seat in the car.

"That's my spot. The back left. I always sit there."

"Can't you sit on the right?" he snapped.

"Hiccup!" his mother scolded.

With a huff, Hiccup scooted over, "Mi'lady."

"T- thank you."

****************

Emmie was annoyingly quiet and attention hogging. His parents dotted on her, making Hiccup take care of her at school, show her around town, introduce her to his friends, make her happy, bla bla bla. Hiccup was sick of it!

And worse, Emmie did the weirdest and creepiest things. She woke up early every morning- even on weekends- and made everyone breakfast. She always sat quietly in her chair. The first time it happened, his father asked, "Emmie, aren't you going to eat?" since her place was empty.

Emmie frowned, confused, but shook her head. "N- no."

"Make yourself something to eat, too, dear," his mother told her.

"N- no, t- thank you. I'm g- good."

"Emmie, you need to eat."

"I did."

"You did? When?"

"Last night. Remember?"

"Emmie, you didn't even eat half of your plate. Eat some breakfast."

And she rocked- constantly. Back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. There was no stopping her! If Hiccup snapped at her to stop, she would for a few minutes before starting again. She did it in the car, as she read, in school, at the dining table, even (though he didn't know how) when she walked!

Her stutter was worse than his- he at least outgrew his. And he hated how long it took her to answer a simple question. He hated how she flinched every time someone shouted, jumped, or raised their arms.

"Has anyone ever hit you?" his parents had asked.

Eyes downcast, like always, she shook her head. "N- no."

Either she was lying about being hit, or she was pretending to flinch, he concluded. And why would she lie? She was safe there. No one was going to hit her.

Another annoying tick was her constant questioning. "Are you mad? Are you mad? Are you mad? Are you gonna hit me? Are you gonna hit me? Are you gonna hit me?" over and over again.

No! No! No! Why couldn't she just shut up?

Whatever Emmie asked, she got.

"Was I good? Can we get ice cream?" she would ask on days she didn't have an anxiety attack.

"Yes, you were good," his parents always cooed.

Though she didn't like to be touched, she slowly let Hiccup and his parents touch her. They could even hug her good night now, something that took three weeks. Some nights she recoiled and denied a hug, but they were becoming fewer and farther between.

Hiccup had just about had it with Emmie. She denied most abuse, and he believed her wholeheartedly. Why didn't his parents and the therapist believe her? Why did they constantly ask? Why did she even need therapy? Sure, she was a tad strange, but that didn't mean she was mental or something.

He was annoyed and missed being the only child in the house.

***********

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hiccup groaned, waking up to the annoying thumping noise. What the Hell was that sound?

A boom of thunder made even him jump, and he heard a cry from the room over. Emmie's room, he realized. Cautiously, he exited his room, walking up to Emmie's closed door.

He heard quiet whimpers and cries from the other side. Was she crying? Did the thunder scare her that much? Sure, he knew she didn't like loud noises, but this was just a silly storm. Nothing to be afraid of.

He knocked. "Emmie?" It went quiet. "Emmie, can I come in?"

Another boom of thunder clapped, and Emmie released a loud cry of panic.

"Emmie, I'm coming in," he warned, opening the door. The bed was a mess but empty. No pillows, and the top blanket was gone. The main lights were out, but the lamp on the bedside table was on, humming. "Emmie?"

A sob came out. "S- s- sorry t- to w- wake you. I- I'm f- fine."

Hiccup walked forward, shutting the door behind him. He walked around the bed, seeing Emmie huddled in the corner, tears streaming down her already stained face. She had been crying for a while.

"You're obviously not fine," he retorted, calmly. He lowered himself to the ground, making himself her height. "Let me help you."

"P- please, I'm sorry I- I woke you. D- don't hit me!" she wept, ducking her face into her knees.

"Shh, shh. Hey, I'm not gonna hit you. I promise," he cooed. He slowly pulled her into his lap. She struggled at first, then let him wrap his arms protectively around her as another clap of thunder made her jump and tense. "Shh," he soothed, running his hand up and down her back, the other running through her hair. "You're safe now. No one is going to hurt you. I promise, you're safe here." He rocked her shaking form slowly, whispering soothing words into her ear.

Every time thunder clapped, the cycle repeated. Emmie would sob, Hiccup would sooth her into silent cries, she might even stopped crying for a minute, then a loud boom threw her into another panic.

But Hiccup remained patient.

"Please, daddy, don't hit me! I'm trying! I promise, I'm try-ing!" And she would wiggle, cupping her cheek and sobbing. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Shh, Emmie, it's me. You're safe. You're safe."

Then her imaginary scene changed.

"Mommy, please don't leave me alone with him. Mommy! Mommy, please! Please! Please, don't leave me alone with him! Mommy!" Then her hands clawed at her throat and she made choking sounds. "Please," she would rasp. "C- can't b- breathe. P- please."

"Shh. You're safe. You're safe," he cooed, not knowing what else to do.

Finally, she squirmed out of his arms, crawling to the wall.

"What are you- hey, stop that!"

Hiccup pulled her back by the third time she smashed her head into the wall, making a deep bang!

That must've been what woke him up, he concluded, holding Emmie onto his lap, trapping her arms at her sides.

"Emmie, calm down. Calm down," he grunted, struggling. "You're safe. No one is going to hurt you, but I can't let you hurt yourself, either. Emmie, stop. Emmie, stop. Stop!"

She let out strangled cries, blindly fighting him, but he was stronger and managed to pin her to the floor. Her eyes remained unfocused as she shook her head side to side. After a handful of seconds, she started banging the back of her head against the floor.

"Emmie! Emmie, stop!" Hiccup panicked, releasing one hand to force her to stop. She hit him multiple times, but he did his best to ignore it and kept her from hurting herself. "Emmie, stop. Calm down. It's okay. You're safe. Shh, shh. You're safe. You're safe."

She eventually calmed in his arms, eyes wide but unfocused, waiting.

"Shh, you're safe," Hiccup repeated, re-positioning her on his lap so it wasn't so awkward for him.

Hiccup was starting to relax after a few minutes of soft echoes in the background, none loud enough to set Emmie off. Then, all his hard work went down the drain as an unusually loud clap shook the house.

Emmie let out a scream, covering her ears. Hiccup's arms tightened around her as she tried to flop backwards. "Please!" begged Emmie. "D- d- don't h- hit m- me!"

"Shh," Hiccup shushed once more. "I won't hurt you, I promise. You're safe now. You're safe."

Emmie calmed down quickly, but her tears didn't slow. Her small hands clung to his tear-soaked shirt. The cycle repeated a few more times, and each time, he found it easier to calm her down, until she eventually fell asleep.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile at Emmie's now peaceful face. It was something he hadn't seen before. He never realized just how tensed and guarded she was before tonight.

Feeling an affection he hadn't felt towards her before, he leaned forward, kissing her forehead.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "I'll never hurt you. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise."

~~~~~~~~~~~


End file.
